Just Like Romeo and Juliet: Star-Crossed Lovers Through The Years

A look back at how the greatest love story of all time has been depicted from cinema to pop music

Love, and heart-wrenching tragedy, are in the air: Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad take the Broadway stage in the latest reprisal of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet this fall, and early next year, Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth will star in a film adaptation. To celebrate hopeless romantics everywhere, we are taking a look back at how the greatest love story of all time has been depicted from cinema to pop music.

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Courtesy of Wikipedia

1660s

In the 1660s, London's Mary Saunderson stole the role of Juliet from the boys and became the first woman to depict the tragic heroine.

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Everett Collection

1908

The first American film of Romeo and Juliet (a silent short) starred Florence Lawrence and Paul Panzer and was shot in Central Park.

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Everett Collection

1934

At the Martin Beck Theatre in New York, Katherine Cornell and Basil Rathbone became the first couple to die for their love on Broadway. Fun fact: a 19-year-old Orson Welles appeared alongside them as Tybalt.

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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty Images

1936

Two years later, Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard appeared in the first full-length film version of the story, helping to make them two of the greatest film stars of their time.

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1954

Renato Castellani was named best director at the Venice Film Festival for his rendition of Romeo and Juliet starring Laurence Harvey and Susan Shentall.

Dame Judi Dench gained some of her first acting chops on the London stage, playing Juliet alongside John Stride at the Old Vic, directed by Franco Zeffirelli. He would later direct Olivia Hussey in the same role for film.

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United Artists/Getty Images

1961

The star-crossed lovers got a famous modern makeover in West Side Story when the Jets and the Sharks danced and sang through the New York City streets and rat packer Tony, played by Richard Beymer, fell in the love with Maria (a young Natalie Wood).

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1964

In the summer of '64 all the sock-boppers were dancing to The Reflections' doo-wop hit "(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet."

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Courtesy Everett Collection

1966

Considered one of the greatest ballet duos of all time, when Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev took the stage in Sergei Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet," their chemistry was so intense it has since been rumored that their romance extended far beyond the stage.

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Courtesy Everett Collection

1968

Franco Zeffirelli's film adaptation starred a 15-year-old Olivia Hussey and 17-year-old Leonard Whiting, who became a couple post-production. Hussey won a Golden Globe for her performance.

Before The Lord of the Rings and X-Men films, Sir Ian McKellen played Romeo opposite Francesca Annis for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

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1981

In 1981 British rockers Dire Straits released the single "Romeo and Juliet," which was considered an instant classic. It appeared in Empire Records in 1994 and was covered by The Killers in 2007. The song was also covered by the Indigo Girls on their 1992 album, Rites of Passage.

Baz Luhrmann's stunning modern depiction starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, amid the deco technicolors of Verona Beach, violent gunfights, and an angel-winged, Prada-clad Juliet. Our hearts still leap when they first spot each other through the fish tank.

Radio Head composed "Exit Music" specifically for the scene when the young lovers take their lives.

In this rendition of the classic story, it is the playwright himself who acts the part of Romeo. Starring Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow, Shakespeare in Love looked at the origin of the Bard's ability to so astutely capture heartache. Paltrow also took home an Oscar for her role in the film.

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2007

Lauren Ambrose played Juliet opposite Oscar Isaac in the Public Theatre's summer production of "Romeo and Juliet" in Central Park.

A year later, Taylor Swift became a household name after she released this track.

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Robert Ascroft

2013

Orlando Bloom sheds his fantasy garb and joins Condola Rashad on the Broadway stage for a chemically charged portrayal of the classic lovers.

And out in early 2014, the latest film production of Romeo and Juliet will star Hailee Steinfeld (with a striking resemblance to Olivia Hussey) and Douglas Booth. Also, look out for a rugged and long-haired Ed Westwick as Mercutio.

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